PROPAGATING TOLERANCE OR ATHEISM?

PN Venugopal

15 July 2008

The south-west monsoon has been very weak this year in Kerala. But monsoons
apart, a furious storm is blowing across the state in the form of an agitation for the withdrawal of the
social science textbook prescribed for class VII students. Those who are on the warpath include the
Kerala Students Union (KSU), the students wing of the Congress party, the opposition United
Democratic Front (UDF), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Christian church and organisations,
the Muslim clergy and organisations and the Nair Service Society (NSS), a dominant caste
organisation.

They allege that the book has objectionable content, it propagates atheism, it is 'anti-religion' in
approach and that its agenda is the promotion of communism among the young.
The much-debated passage occurs in the second chapter of the textbook introduced this year on the
basis of the new curriculum adopted by the State Council of Educational Research and Training
(SCERT). The passage describes the admission process of a child, Jeevan, to the first standard.

The controversial 'Jeevan' unit in the social science textbook.

"Son, what’s your name?"

"Jeevan".

"Good…nice name. Father’s name?"

"Anvar Rasheed".

"Mother’s name?"

"Lakshmi Devi".

The headmaster looked at the parents and asked: "Which religion should we note"?

"No need to note any. Please mention ‘no religion’."

"Caste?"

"The same."

The headmaster leaned back on his chair and asked rather gravely: "What if he feels the need for a
religion when he grows up?"

"He can choose his religion if and when he feels so."

The Hindu-Muslim parents of the child do not want him to have any religion. “He can choose his
religion if and when he feels so” is the father's reply to a query by the headmaster regarding the
future, when the child grows up.

The antagonists allege that this in itself is a negation of religion as each one is born into a religion.
Education minister M A Baby’s counter argument to that is that the accent of the textbook is on
religious diversity and tolerance.

The chapter begins with the pledge ‘India is my country. All Indians are my...’ But then it surprises the
reader by juxtaposing a paper cutting with the heading ‘Dalit burned to death for drawing water from
the public well’. The lesson then poses the question why such things happen and discusses
discriminations on the basis of caste and past practices by excerpts from the memoirs of eminent
personalities.

The next unit takes the students through various reform movements that swept through Kerala in the
second half of 19th century and the first half of the 20th. Then comes Jeevan, the boy who has no
religion, and this is followed by a quote from Jawaharlal Nehru's last testament: “I do sincerely desire
to declare that no religious ceremony be performed for me after my death.”
Next we get quotes from the Mahabharata, Bible, Prophet Mohammed and Guru Nanak extolling
mutual love and respect. And then the lesson winds up with a master stroke: “Members of which
religions are more affected by the problems mentioned below?”

Price Hike
Scarcity of Drinking Water
Epidemics
Earth Quake

The children are also asked to write a note on a situation in which a child belonging to a different
religion flees his native land because of communal violence and takes refuge in their house.
The debate over the issue, ironically enough did not begin in the classrooms or in discussion halls,
but on the streets, when activists of the KSU stormed into the district offices of the education
department and vandalised public property and stoned police persons. The police retaliated and
violence reigned for almost ten days.

The activists of Muslim Students Federation (MSF) then went a step ahead and burnt 14,000
textbooks that were being loaded into a truck at Malappuram. (It is not yet clear if the books
consigned to flames were actually the controversial textbooks.) BJP, who entered the fray a bit late,
clashed with the activists of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and the youth wing of CPI
(M), who had gathered in support of the book, and Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital, became a
real battlefield.

However educationists across the country say that the textbook row is unjustified. Educationists and
heads of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan (SSA) from various states, who had gathered in Thiruvananthapuram
for a three-day national workshop, “described the ongoing controversy over the contents of class VII
social science textbook in the state as unjustified and disturbing,” reported The Hindu on 25 June.
Rohit Dhankar, educationist from Rajasthan involved in the designing of the National Curriculum
Framework (NCF) and one of the participants, described the chapter as “absolutely in line with the
NCF”. “The first chapter of NCF speaks about the need for cultivating rationalist attitude among
children and encouraging them to think and act independently. The (controversial) chapter is very
much in line with this stated objective,” he added.

According to SCERT director M A Khader, the new curriculum is based on the one adopted by the
National Council of Educational Research and Training in 2005. He has claimed that the teachers
involved in the preparation of the textbook were selected through a written examination and that their
political affiliations were not the criterion.

The other four chapters of this first part of the textbook deal with land ownership, land reforms, the
Independence movement, conservation of water and the role of rivers in ancient civilisations and the
present day. At least some would say that it requires the spirit and paranoia of a McCarthy to sight
communist propaganda in these learning materials.

However, various religious denominations have called for not only scrapping the textbook altogether,
but also revising the texts that were introduced this academic year for classes I, III and V. One
particular aspect of the conglomeration that has come together against the curriculum change cannot
go unobserved. Almost all the forces that had aligned against the first communist government in
Kerala in 1959, in what was dubbed as the 'liberation struggle', can easily be identified to be the
parties in cohort.

The state government has staunchly defended the textbook and has refused to withdraw it. However
it has made a concession. An 18-member committee has been setup with eminent historian K N
Panikkar as the chairman to study whether any portion of the textbook has objectionable contents.
The committee has been given three months to make its evaluation. The committee has also been
authorised to hold public hearings in order to examine any other issues it deems pertinent and also
take into consideration specific complaints brought before it by interested parties.
But this doesn't seem to be the end of things and the ushering in of peace in the classrooms and on
the streets of Kerala. The UDF has already rejected the committee alleging that the committee is
packed with communist fellow travellers and that it will not be satisfied by anything less than the
'unconditional withdrawal of the objectionable textbook'.

To add more fuel, a segment of the church-managed schools has declared that their schools will not
be teaching this chapter, but will have an alternate chapter. The Kalpakancherry panchayat in
Malappuram district, governed by Indian Union Muslim League, a constituent of the UDF, has
adopted a resolution that the controversial lesson need not be taught. Kalpakancherry is risking a
direct confrontation with the state’s Ministry of Local Bodies and is throwing up fresh questions about
the powers of the panchayats in intervening in academic matters. (Quest Features & Footage)

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Comments (8)

Posted by Samantika,

I do not find anything objectionable in the mentioned passage despite being a very religious and
spiritual person myself. The parents do not denounce religion, they merely want to leave it to their
child to choose. I have not read the book, but it seems to be very progressive and tolerant, something
we sorely need.

It is ironic though, that a book that actually promotes social and religious tolerance manages to unite
all our political parties and communities (although against it )

Posted by Preethi Krishnan,

This article shows why reform in India takes so much time. Rational thinking and creativity were the
most important factors which were lacking in the Indian Education System. By staging threats on the
grounds of ignorance, fuelled by religious fanaticism, we as a country are going towards the dark
ages. It will be really nice to see a article as to how the "changed" text book chapters address the
issues of tolerance.

Posted by arun talwar,

Very informative article.
Suppose I am a brahmin and have a child and at the time of admission, i have written 'no religion'
and 'no caste'. When the child becomes 10 years old, he now writes his caste as one of 'scheduled
castes'. Will it be accepted by the same politicians who recommends this book? Further at a later
date, he writes his religion as 'Muslim'. Will all the benefits to minority will be extended to him
including political patronage?

Posted by T.Rjagopal,

As aperson born and brought up in Kerala,I can say the curse of this so called God's Own Country is
create controversey and negate all type of Progress.Education,Environment,and Economy were the
area where controversy rules the state.I remember the controversy over ODAYILNINNU a novel of
P.Kesava dev prescribed for study in highschools in late sixties .The modus of operandi tooverthrow
the democratically elected government is same.in 58 and 2008,But kerala people have grown to
ignore it .the new form of Liberation struggle will not be successful.I pray GOd,to save Kerala."OH
GOD ARE YOU HINDU,CHRISTIAN OR MUSLIM,JEWS OR SIKH?
THE FAMOUS SAYING OF SREENARAYANA GURU.
"ORUJATHI,ORUMATHAM,ORU DEIVAM MANUSHYANU ,MATHAMETHAYALUM MANUSHYAN
NANNAYAL MATHI".gANDHIJI SANG "ISWAR ALLAHA TERE NAAM ,SUB KO SANMATHI DE
BAGWAN" .WE FORGOT GANDHI,NEHRU,AND SREENARAYANA GURU. WHAT ELSE TO SAY.

Posted by Badhri,

One common problem in India is that the society seems to have accepted vandalism and destruction
of public property as a valid and democratic form of protests.
Good social reforms such as these are repeatedly thwarted purely by way of violence, often backed
by vested interests that are often opposing political parties and nobody seems to have the clout to
question it. This is a great discouragement to the few well-meaning government executives to take
bold socially reformative efforts.
The only way to put an end to this, in this specific case, is for the parents of the students to force the
educational institution to teach the chapters. If it doesn't happen, which is the likely outcome, we just
deserve what we get.

Posted by known,

Your child may be the next Nobel Prize Winner!
Ask your child's teacher to record all "why" type of socio-economic questions from your children and
give them to you at the end of the day.

Posted by Vipindas,
Interesting comment Arun.

Although I do not doubt the intentions behind the mentioned chapter for a moment, in all honesty it
doesn't make much sense. The point the chapter misses is that in a modern society it shouldn't matter
what your religion is; which unfortunately is not true in our country, as exemplified by the question the
headmaster asks the child.

Posted by Badhri,

Vipin,

You are probably looking at it from the wrong end. Currently it is for sure not the case. But purpose of
this book is not to highlight current state of affairs, but to mould the future generation which trusts that
religion shouldn't matter. How do you impart this thought on to young generation? By including such
chapters. It makes perfect sense.

According to SCERT director M A Khader, the new curriculum is based on the one adopted by the
National Council of Educational Research and Training in 2005. He has claimed that the teachers
involved in the preparation of the textbook were selected through a written examination and that their
political affiliations were not the criterion.